Beetle Bop Book and Audio CD Set

As in her Caldecott Honor Book, In a Small, Small Pond, Fleming creates a vibrant, exciting portrait of often-overlooked creatures. Here she uses expertly crafted fiber collage to celebrate beetles, and both words and pictures vibrate with the relentless energy of her subject. The rhyming couplets call out descriptions of beetles with the pounding rhythm of a chant: "Striped beetles, spotted beetles, all-over-dotted beetles." The beautiful images, colored in bright, saturated shades shot through with electric jolts of neon, magnify the places where beetles hide -- under leaves, inside pavement cracks -- drawing young children into the secret insect world where predators sometimes lurk. The final spread shows the beetles' activity as a wild, joyful dance, which may inspire preschoolers to try out a creepy-crawly boogie of their own. A great choice for a restless crowd demanding a high-voltage read-aloud.